Competition, Women, and Camraderie

In Dance Nation, a pre-teen dance troupe navigates ambition, friendship, and desire as they claw their way to the Nationals in Tampa Bay. The journey is anything but easy. As Abby Lee Miller of TV’s Dance Moms warns, “Do it right, because somebody, sometimes your best friend, is waiting for you to screw up so she can take your place.” Olney Theatre Center assembles a panel of women who clawed their way to the top of their fields to discuss how competition and sisterhood coexist. Scheduled panelists include:

Dr. Chandni Shah, a clinical psychologist who grew up immersed in dance as an essential element of her South Asian cultural background and is also trained in a classical style of Indian dance known as Bharatnatyam.

Kayla Willing, Miss Maryland 2022, is a student and field hockey player at Lancaster Bible College with a major in communications. She will compete in the national Miss America pageant later this year.